Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume II.djvu/164

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ture could present, carried his mighty work under mountains of rock, over streams of water, and along the back of lofty mounds, pushing them- selves far above the level of the valley, to the desired spot through a distance of eleven or twelve miles. The whole of this canal (particularly in- teresting, as being the first ever formed upon the admirable plans and principles which they at pre- sent display) is extremely worth investigation; which may be easily and agreeably done either by water in a barge, or on horseback by the track.

Commencing with the Medlock, (at Castlefield, in the suburbs of Manchester) whose waters feed it with a constant supply of water, it is carried in a circuitous direction near nine or ten miles, in or- der to preserve the level. In the course of this journey it passes near Stratford, whose flat grounds presented a difficulty to Mr. Brindley which all his brother engineers considered as an insuperable one; but nothing could surmount the force of his ge- nius, and in the course of a short time they beheld with astonishment the canal passing on high in air, carried over the flat on a stupendous artificial mound of earth constructed for the purpose. Ac- companying its waters, we proceeded by this Her- culean labour to Barton-Bridge, an aqueduct thrown over the Irwell, and carrying the' canal in

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